Fugitive aerosols in the intensive care unit: a narrative review.

ABSTRACT: The risk of unintended inhalation of fugitive aerosols is becoming a topic of increasing interest in the healthcare arena. These fugitive aerosols may be bioaerosols, generated by the patient themselves through cough or sneeze, or they may be therapeutic medical aerosols, generated by therapeutic medical aerosol generators with the intent of delivery to a specific patient's respiratory tract. This review focus' on therapeutic aerosols in the intensive care unit (ICU) only, those typically generated by nebulisers. In the intensive care environment, patients are generally in receipt of ventilatory support, and the literature suggests that these different support interventions influence fugitive therapeutic medical aerosol emissions in a variety of ways. Predominant ventilatory support interv

SUBMITTER: O'Toole C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8105852 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature